Another longtime FBI official quits today. According to Fox News Catherine Herridge reporting, FBI Asst. Director Michael Kortan (aka text message “Mike”), the head of the FBI Public Affairs Office, has announced he is retiring. Mike Kortan was previously exposed by FBI Agent Peter Strozok as having specific information that the investigation into Hillary Clinton was manipulated by the “small group”. “Mike’s” job was to sell the ruse as a valid investigation. WASHINGTON – The longtime head of public affairs at the FBI — who was a confidant of former director James Comey — is planning to retire, Fox News...

An FBI informant involved in the controversial Uranium One deal has told congressional committees that Moscow paid millions to a U.S. lobbying firm in a bid to influence then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by helping former President Bill Clinton’s charities during the Obama administration. The Hill first reported late Wednesday that informant Douglas Campbell gave a 10-page statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, House Intelligence Committee and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and was interviewed for several hours behind closed doors by committee staff. In the statement, obtained by Fox News, Campbell said Russian executives told him that Moscow...

Two British men believed to be members of a notorious Islamic State group (IS) cell have been seized by Syrian Kurdish fighters, US officials say. Alexanda Kotey, 34, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 29, were the last two members of the cell to remain at large. The four, all from London, were nicknamed "the Beatles" because of their British accents. US officials said the "execution cell" had beheaded more than 27 Western hostages and tortured many more. Who were the IS 'Beatles'? The US state department says the four-man cell was responsible for beheading several Westerners. They are: Mohammed Emwazi -...

Wait, weren’t the tax cuts supposed to bankrupt the country to benefit the rich? It almost looks like the tax cuts — which took effect in January — are paying for themselves. That wouldn’t be fair, either. As the CBO notes, the new payroll withholding scheduled hadn’t fully taken effect in January; companies don’t have to update their employee tax withholdings until the middle of this month. When that happens, monthly revenues from individual income taxes will likely slip. But the latest CBO report does show how a growing economy can make up a lot of the difference between the...

Intel has started releasing new microcode updates that should address one of the Spectre vulnerabilities after the first round of patches caused significant problems for many users. The company has so far released new firmware updates only for its Skylake processors, but expects updates to become available for other platforms as well in the coming days. Customers and partners have been provided beta updates to ensure that they can be extensively tested before being moved into production. The chipmaker started releasing microcode patches for the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities shortly after the attack methods were disclosed by researchers. However, the...

In 2001, President George Bush issued a truly astounding appraisal of Vladimir Putin, the former KGB agent who has run Russia since replacing Boris Yeltsin in 1999. "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country." Bush got it half right. Putin was absolutely committed to Russia and Russia's interests. But trustworthy? I think Bush's own CIA and FBI specialists would have told...

The President. I have a couple comments, and I'll answer some questions, obviously. This is a trip that I've been looking forward to. I've never been to Germany; I'm looking forward to it. I've prepared a speech to the Bundestag, which is going to be a very interesting opportunity for me to talk about a very important relationship. In my speech I'm going to refer to my trip to Russia as well, about how I view this as an opportunity—my trip to Russia and Germany and France and eventually Italy—as a way to confirm the importance of our relationship bilaterally...

Every rape and serious sexual assault case in the country is under review following the collapse of a number of high-profile trials in recent weeks, the Crown Prosecution Service has admitted. Last night Alison Saunders, the director of public prosecutions, revealed that that the review would involve every force in the country in an attempt to improve public confidence in the justice system. It comes after four rape trials collapsed in the space of two months, when it was found that crucial evidence was disclosed just days before the cases were due to be heard in court. Most recently, Oxford...

..... Still, in no country have the precepts of "intersectional" feminism been more unequivocally endorsed by the political and cultural establishment, and more eagerly internalized by the citizenry, than in Sweden. Case in point: one of the consequences of "intersectional" feminism is a severe reluctance to punish Muslim men for acting in accordance with the moral dictates of their own culture; and it is precisely because of this reluctance that Sweden, with its "feminist government," has, according to some observers, become the "rape capital of the West." Moreover, it was "intersectionality" that, last year, led every female member of a...

The US has launched rare air strikes in eastern Syria to thwart and attack on allied Kurdish and Arab fighters aligned to Syria's government. Some 500 fighters had tried to take ground captured from the Islamic State (IS) group by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). SDF and government forces control areas on either side of the Euphrates River. Some US forces are embedded with the SDF but they suffered no casualties. One SDF fighter was injured, the US officials said. The pro-government forces had been backed by artillery, tanks and other heavy weaponry when the attacked an SDF headquarters...

White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigned Tuesday after two of his ex-wives came forward accusing him of abuse while they were married to him. Porter called the allegations “simply false” before thanking the president for the opportunity to serve in the White House and announcing he would be leaving, reports Axios. “These outrageous allegations are simply false. I took the photos given to the media nearly 15 years ago and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described. I have been transparent and truthful about these vile claims, but I will not further engage publicly...

While only 22 North Korean athletes are competing at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, they can be guaranteed of a rapturous welcome at their events. An astonishing 229 cheerleaders dominated the 280-member delegation that crossed the demilitarised zone dividing the two Koreas at a post north of Seoul on February 7. Previously heralded as North Korea’s “army of beauties”, the women turned heads and made global headlines in their matching travel outfits of fur-trimmed scarlet coats, fur hats and ankle boots. Their retro glam style – think the Duchess of Cambridge’s Christmas Day church outfit crossed with the rigid chic of...

A Justice Department official who helped oversee the controversial probes of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server and Russian interference in the 2016 election stepped down this week. David Laufman, an experienced federal prosecutor who in 2014 became chief of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, said farewell to colleagues Wednesday. He cited personal reasons. His departure from the high-pressure job comes as President Trump and his Republican allies have stepped up attacks on the Justice Department, the FBI and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III for their handling of the Russia probe. “It’s tough...

A new bill under consideration by Florida lawmakers would stop insurance companies from dodging workers compensation payouts by aiding in the arrest and deportation of unauthorized immigrants who are injured on the job. Legislators and advocates have been pushing for the measure since last summer, when ProPublica and NPR documented more than 130 cases in which immigrants who had suffered legitimate workplace injuries were flagged to law enforcement agencies by their employers' insurers. The workers faced felony fraud charges for using a fake ID when they sought medical care. Meanwhile, the insurers often avoided paying the workers' compensation benefits legally...

Serving The Bestest Troops and Veterans In The Whole World !! | The Canteen Crew

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ ORION LIGHTS Sailors conduct a preflight check on a P-3C Orion aircraft on the flightline of Naval Air Station North Island in Coronado, CA, Nov. 1, 2016. The sailors are assigned to Patrol Squadron 46, which is supporting the USS Carl Vinson during a training exercise. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Alexander Cole Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. NIGHT PADDLE Marines depart the well deck of...

Sentencing is scheduled for April. 20 – coincidentally, a celebratory day in cannabis cultureIn a guilty plea deal, the Miami Lakes man who hid $22 million of suspected marijuana trafficking funds in five-gallon buckets will keep $4 million, his home, his hydroponics garden supplies store and five Rolex watches. Luis Hernandez-Gonzalez, 46, on Wednesday pleaded guilty in federal court to money laundering and structuring bank deposits to avoid the federal government's reporting requirement, known as smurfing, his attorney confirmed to NBC 6. Marijuana trafficking and other charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement. The June 2016 raid on...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi took the rare step Wednesday of giving a marathon speech supporting Democrats’ attempts to legalize the status of young immigrant “dreamers,” in a bid to pressure Republicans to act. Her more than eight-hour speech ranked as the longest given by a member of the House of Representatives in at least a century, possibly ever, focusing on an issue that has dominated the Democratic agenda in recent months. But it also came as her caucus began three days of closed-door meetings to craft a 2018 agenda that can win wider appeal in November’s elections. .....

On the eve of a hearing at which two Twin Peaks shootout bikers were seeking to disqualify McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna from prosecuting their cases, Reyna instead decided to dismiss one of those cases and recuse his office in the other. Additionally, Reyna's office has notified 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother that it intends to dismiss engaging in organized criminal activity charges against five other bikers arrested after the May 2015 shootout at Twin Peaks. Strother said Wednesday evening he will grant the motions to dismiss the charges and recuse the DA's office on Thursday morning. Reyna...

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley says a recent memo written by the attorney general to Justice Department heads that instructs them not to communicate with Congress without pre-approval from the Justice Department Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) is almost certainly illegal. The Iowa Republican told Jeff Sessions in a letter Tuesday that his recent memo "does not appear to comply with existing law," and he asked Sessions to revise the memo accordingly. Sessions, who apparently told the heads of DOJ divisions that they should not communicate with "senators, representatives, congressional committees, or congressional staff without advance coordination and consultation...